Seasonal Flu Vaccine in Maine

Health officials say there shouldn’t be a shortage of flu shots this season. Unlike last year, health officials say the influenza vaccine is available to anyone over the age of six-months and will be available in a single dose. Last year the Maine CDC had to prioritize who received vaccine for most of the flu season.This year’s vaccine has 3 strains of the influenza virus according to state epidemiologist Dr. Stephen Sears. “This year it’s one shot. The shot actually contains the H1N1 that we saw last year and strains called H2N3 that we’ve seen before and influenza B. That’s typically what we see in seasonal influenza vaccine. 3 of the viruses together,” he says.Inland Hospital in Waterville had one of their first clinics on Tuesday where there was a steady stream of employees and folks from the public wanting the shot. The H1N1 Flu claimed the lives of 21 people in Maine last season. Every year, however, the seasonal flu kills between 20,000 and 36,000 people in the United States.For more information on influenza click here.For more information on Inland Hospital’s flu shot clinics click here.